Page 26 of Love You A Latte

CHAPTER ELEVEN

ADDISON

Frankie’s smile drops and their face turns red with anger. I immediately backpedal, not expecting that reaction.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t think you’d mind,” I blabber, the words flying out of my mouth with no input from my brain as Frankie crosses the space with a few quick steps. “I don’t know what I was thinking, I didn’t mean to invade your privacy—”

Frankie cuts me off with a kiss and I freeze.

“Shh, Addison,” Frankie says, pulling back and swiping their hands over my hair. “I’m not mad at you, I like that you made yourself at home. I don’t have anything to hide and you can snoop to your heart’s content. I just realized something important.”

“Oh,” I say, my voice faint. This day has been the worst rollercoaster of all emotional rollercoasters.

They gently take the stack of envelopes from me, then turn to sit on the couch and lean forward. One by one, they take a folded paper out of each envelope and lay it open on the coffee table.

“Can you pull up that recording you took?” they say, gesturing for me to come sit next to them.

“Yeah,” I say, clicking into the video as I walk toward the couch.

I hand my phone over, and Frankie pulls me down next to them, tugging me close so our thighs line up from kneeto hip. Their leg pressing into me settles the anxiety that had started to swirl when I first saw their anger in response to the envelopes.

“What are these?” I ask, realizing each piece of paper has a typed letter on it, then looking at the envelopes sitting face up above them with no return address, no stamps, and no delivery address either.

“Frankie?” I say, my gut churning as I turn to them for an explanation.

They grimace with a sigh, then run a hand down their face before explaining.

“I’ve been getting these letters for a few months now,” they say, gesturing to a handwritten date on the first one. March twelfth, just over three months ago. There’s a second dated from April, then two from May, and another two so far this month.

“Okay…”

“The first couple were just angry messages, but then they started to get threatening. I’d find them slipped under my back door from the alley, no indication of who it’s from and no way of seeing into the back alley since the street cameras don’t record there.” They pause and crack their knuckles, tension lining their tattooed forearm. “I thought about setting up my own camera out back, but I guess I didn’t think it was a big deal. I don’t know. Maybe I was in denial.”

They pick up the first June letter, dated about three weeks ago.

“Something’s been bothering me all day, and I think it was one of the things Derek said. It’s the same as what this letter says.”

They pass the note to me and I read it over.

You act all high and mighty. But you’re not tricking anyone with that nice act. We all know you’re not a good person. You don’t care about anyone but yourself. You’re spoiled and selfish and this town hates you. You’ll see.

I gasp, re-reading the lines that must have stuck out toboth of us.

“It’s been him, hasn’t it?” I say. “Leaving these notes?”

Frankie nods, their expression weary. “I think so, yeah.”

They play the video, skipping through the first part to right before I stepped in front of them.

“You act all high and mighty, but you don’t care about other local businesses. You’re just a spoiled, selfish, disrespectful—”

Frankie pauses the recording and I suck in a breath, my eyes sliding between the phone and the letter.

“He messed up,” Frankie says. “I always suspected it was him, I just never acknowledged it. I guess this is as close to proof as I’m going to get.”

“You have to show these to the sheriff, Frankie,” I say, my voice tight with worry. This borders on stalking, and would definitely qualify as harassment.

Frankie sends the video to their phone and nods in agreement, pulling up the non-emergency number for the sheriff’s office. Frankie informs him that they have evidence they think incriminates Derek of further crimes. They explain, and also mention a grocery shopping incident in which Derek refused to let them into the store. I frown, not having known about that.

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